Numerous shading systems for windows of motor vehicles are well known today such as curtains, venetian blinds, and folded cartons. Most of these window shading systems suffer from the need for manual intervention at the initiation and termination of each use. Some other systems, mechanically more complex, also suffer from similar disadvantages of inconvenience. Most similar to the present invention are manually actuated, spring-loaded roller collecting, sunshades.
The present invention eliminates the disadvantage of the need for manual intervention and lends itself to automatic and remotely actuated systems. Furthermore, the present invention benefits from convenient unobtrusive storage between usages.
The present invention relates to an electromechanical sun visor for a motor vehicle window. The visor comprises:
a sunshade screen rolled onto a spring-loaded takeup roller disposed within a housing. The roller housing is attached to the interior of the roof of the vehicle adjacent the upper side of a window. A bidirectional electric motor is connected to a power source. A rotatable shaft is driven forward and backward by the electric motor, and the shaft is mounted parallel to the roller.
At least one rubber-like pulley presses against the shaft. The sunshade screen passes between the shaft and the pulley in frictional retention.
Two microswitches are located at the opening of the roller housing where the sunshade screen passes, and each is connected to the electric motor for automatically stopping the feedout and the retraction of the sunshade screen.
The sun visor according to the present invention may be optionally connected to a remote controlled system of the vehicle such as the alarm system.
The present invention is not limited by the inconvenience of manual intervention and benefits from convenient storage. Additionally, the present invention lends itself to various automatic and remotely actuated methods of use.
The bidirectional electric motor has a 12-volt or 24-volt power source, which may be the vehicle battery or a separate battery. The electric motor may be connected to and may be controlled by the alarm system of the vehicle. The electric motor may also be controlled by an on/off switch or by remote control. In such cases, there may be a switch for disconnecting the electric motor from the alarm system and from the remote control.
The present invention is especially useful for the front window of vehicles wherein there are two parallel sun visors, one at each side of the front mirror and connected together by a flexible rotary cable.
The sunshade screen material may be any material normally used for curtains in vehicles such as cloth, plastic film, foil, or any combination thereof. The sunshade screen may have at least one thin flexible reinforcement strip. This thin flexible reinforcement strip may be aligned to traverse between the shaft and the pulley. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the sunshade screen has three reinforcement strips, one alone each longitudinal edge (traversing between the shaft and a pulley) and one along the longitudinal center for reinforcement purposes exclusively.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention the microswitches are electrooptic sensor switches. In this case, two black adhesive stickers are put on the sunshade screen and aligned in the path of the microswitches. The upper black sticker defines for the sensor the limit of the feedout while the lower black sticker defines the limit of the retraction.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microswitches are electromechanical sensor switches. In this case, two holes are made in the sunshade screen and aligned in the path of the microswitches. The upper hole defines for the sensor the limit of the feedout while the lower hole defines the limit of the retraction. (The holes may also be used in an electrooptic sensor.)